U.S. Race Car Driver Hal Prewitt in Down-To-The-Wire Battle for the International Endurance Series Driver Championship

Prewitt Top American andIn Contention in Prestigious Racing Series Heading into This Weekend’s Season Finale in The Czech Republic

BRNO, Czech Republic (October 8, 2015) – Tech pioneer, fine-art photographer and accomplished race car driver Hal Prewitt is preparing for the race of his life this weekend when he takes the battle for the 2015 24H International Endurance Series Drivers Championship down to the wire in the season-ending race at the Automotodrom Brno in the Czech Republic.

The Hankook 12H EPILOG BRNO is the sixth and final round of this year’s hotly contested 24H International Endurance Series (IES) season. Prewitt is the top American out of the 775 drivers from 58 countries that have raced in the series all year, and he could leave the Czech Republic as the first driver from the United States to take the IES title.

“As we prepare for the final race, the pressure on our team has reached the highest level,” Prewitt said. “We are ready to race and win knowing that the key to our results has been our ability to successfully adapt to ever changing challenges and never giving up.”

An international racing series competing in Europe and the United Arab Emirates, the International Endurance Series (IES) joins the FIA’s legendary Formula One and World Endurance Championships as the only racing series to truly race around the globe.

The IES stands alone in worldwide motorsports, however, as the only auto racing series to draw such an amazing number of drivers, teams and race cars from all corners of the globe. Winning a championship in the IES can truly be called a world-beating effort.

The 2015 IES driver championship at Brno will come down to a battle between Prewitt and five other drivers, including points leader Chantal Kroll, an early-season teammate of Prewitt’s who clinched the 24H Ladies Cup Championship at Barcelona.

“After this race the IES drops our lowest race result of the year,” Prewitt said. “Doing this now, I am second and one point from matching Chantal, my teammate in our win at the 24 Hours of Dubai in January. Most of the championship contenders are in different classes at Brno and I basically I need to finish second or higher in either of my classes and not tie her. If she or I fail to podium and the drivers just below us win, one of them will be the champion. How we finish the Brno race will decide who will win the championship.”

To double his chances for a good result and the valuable championship points that go with it, Prewitt will co-drive a pair of Cor Euser Racing entries in the EPILOG BRNO.

“Our goal, of course, is to make Hal the Champion,” said team owner and co-driver Cor Euser. “Out of more than 750 endurance drivers, we have done our best to achieve that. We have put together a great group of drivers and two good cars. Everything has been rebuilt to the maximum to score well.”

“I have done a lot of long-distance racing in the past,” van Dongen said. “I started driving with Cor in 2008 and we did a lot of endurance races through 2012. I really learned to race from Cor, I can definitely say that, but the Lotus is something new for me. I am looking forward to it, let’s start it!”

“It will be good to race with my brother, not against my brother,” said Jacky van der Ende, the older of the two van Endes. “I like the track very much, it is a track where you have to get into the rhythm, but I am a good dancer, so that should be OK!”

The van der Endes come from a family in which both their father and mother raced.

“I love the track, there is a lot of flow and it should really suit us.” Ricardo van der Ende said. “I started racing when I was five years old and I have never stopped. The last couple of years I have been racing in GT4 and have won European Championships with BMW.”

Of the two cars, Prewitt has seen the most of his 2015 success in the Lotus. The Brno finale is a 12-hour race, similar to May’s 12 hour at Zandvoort in the Netherlands where Prewitt, Euser and teenager Huub Delnoij won in the Lotus. They will race the same No. 160 Evora GT4 at Brno after nearly pulling off a class victory in the 24 Hours of Barcelona last month.

“This season has had highs and lows,” Prewitt said. “Even with podiums, every race has been different. Being the top American has been a great honor. Having driven nearly 200 races in my career I know that, despite the best plans and efforts, in racing it's impossible to know how a race is going to end.”

One week ago, Prewitt and the Cor Euser Racing prepared for Brno by competing in a 24-hour race at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in Germany, September 25 – 27. Despite some early mechanical issues, Prewitt and the team finished the race to build positive momentum coming into the Czech Republic finale.

The EPILOG BRNO race schedule includes both day and nighttime practice sessions and qualifying on Friday. The 12-hour race itself runs from Noon local through Midnight this Saturday. Timing and live streaming with commentary from Radiolemans.com is available throughout the race at www.24hseries.com.

Noteworthy

- Prewitt’s international racing adventures are being chronicled in a blog appearing on the leading sports car racing web site, www.SportsCar365.com. His last three blog reports followed the recent endurance races at Oschersleben, Barcelona and Zolder in Belgium.

- In addition to being a race car driver, inventor and technical pioneer, Prewitt is also an emerging fine-art photographer. He is opening a new gallery in Park City, Utah this year and always takes time to hone his fine-art photographic skills while traveling around the world. The Prewitt original below was recently taken upon his arrival in the Czech Republic for this weekend’s race. It depicts Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic, a famous historic bridge crossing the Vltava River in Prague. Construction of the bridge started in 1357 under King Charles IV and was finished in the beginning of the 15th century.

About Hal Prewitt
At just 14, Hal Prewitt obtained a junked car, rebuilt it and taught himself to drive. As a teen he began autocross racing, flying planes, painting, building electronics and programming. The combination would lead to a high-flying career in computer software and hardware, race car driving and, eventually, photography. He was 38 in 1992, when he sold his tech company to Sony and turned his full attention to parenting his two young sons. Later he pursued and became a successful international race car driver. A former elected official and an enthusiastic participant on several government, for profit and non-profit boards, Prewitt is at the top of his game in racing. He also manages investments, photographs, grows oranges and operates Prewitt Enterprises, LLC in Florida and Utah.

About Hal Prewitt Photography
Traveling the world on photo projects, business missions and attending races lets Prewitt explore amazing locations and capture a wide array of magical moments. Soon, his new gallery in Park City, Utah, will display many of his majestic wildlife and landscape images which have become collectors’ items. “Capturing a great scene is not unlike winning a race,” Prewitt said. “When it all comes together at that ideal spot and special moment, it’s that unique experience like winning each race, a moment that will never be repeated.”